New workshop series for adults!

We're very excited to announce our new workshop series for adults called "Course One - Party Revolution." This series is intended to give participants the foundational experience needed to become comfortable taking an idea from concept to working prototype and beyond using a high-tech toolset. We will help students bring together hardware and software in new ways to bring ideas “to life” and to show how to turn what seems amazingly complex into something incredibly simple with the right perspective.

Workshop Theme: Party RevolutionThe workshop theme is one we think will be a lot of fun for everyone, but what does "Party Revolution" mean? That's up to you, really! What sort of crazy ideas do you have to make something that will wow your friends at a party, or enable you to make a party anywhere you choose? Perhaps it's a piece of interactive art, or a modular backpack with party lights and sound, or robotic party speakers with LEDs that you can have follow you throughout the streets. We'll help students ideate and prototype their idea throughout this workshop. It'll be a learning blast!

Structure & PricingThe workshop is a six-part series of three-hour weekly evening classes. We have pricing options for individuals, groups of two, and groups of three -- in fact we highly suggest you find a partner to join you for this workshop if you can. ​The workshop price ranges from $549 to $899. See the table below for details.

Group of One

Group of Two

Group of Three

$549per series

$699per series

$899per series

$549/person

$349/person

$299/person

In addition, there is a basic materials fee of $75 per project, though any unwanted reusable materials may be refunded at the end if desired. Additional materials may be purchased as needed as well.​DatesWe will begin Tuesday June 21st and run until Tuesday August 2nd (we're skipping one week in late July).

Space within the workshop is limited - we're capping the size to 8 individuals/teams to ensure everyone gets enough attention/help from us. So sign up now!​And stay tuned for further announcements on some shorter workshops (one- and two-day), as well as a workshop series for youth!

Hire us for an upcoming party or event!

And as a reminder, if you have a personal or work-related party/event coming up some time soon, consider hiring us to add some of our interactive LED art and lighting to make the event extra special! We have a few rental packages available and are also happy to develop a custom rental solution with you.Learn more about our rental services here.

We're excited to announce that we will be at the Bay Area Maker Faire this May 20-22. Look for us in the big dark room. We'll have tons of art - including some new pieces - as well as some fun hands-on activities. :)Want to help? We are seeking volunteers!

Volunteering primarily involves talking with people about Sustainable Magic (we'll coach you on what to say and provide informational print outs, etc.), guiding people to join our email list, and helping out or monitoring the hands-on activities we have in store. You'll be able to do whatever you're comfortable with - just let us know. If you volunteer, you'll be able to get in free or at a discount rate to Maker Faire that as well and check out all the amazing things being shared. :)

​If dancing is your thing and you're in SF, consider coming to the Terminus Fundraiser for the Disco Space Shuttle art car, this Friday 5/13. The event is held in the warehouse on Treasure Island where we had our workshop. Sadly, the building is being destroyed soon -- so this is the last party that will be held there ever!

The event looks like it will be quite impressive, with some amazing DJs and a ton of awesome art -- including from Sustainable Magic -- but also Peter Hudson's "Eternal Return" zoetrope.

If you are in the Bay area, come bathe yourself this weekend in the undulating light of an amazing collection of light art created by over 20 artists!

Hosted by the 5 Months Gallery, this magical show runs from this Friday, January 29th through Sunday, January 31st, from 5pm-11pm each evening.

Be sure to make it to the opening reception on Friday evening, starting at 6pm.There will special guest artistic performances by Cerebellum Projekt​.

​See art you like? Make it yours! You will be able to purchase much of the art exhibited at the show, including Sustainable Magic art. We will be offering a discount on purchase to gallery attendees, so be sure to stop by!

We bring the season's magic to life with our robotic illuminated flowers. We can make your party stand out. Or let you give the gift that keeps giving - the ability to create new things! Gift certificates for our workshops and art are on sale now!

Party Decor:Want a radiant party atmosphere, filled with sensory wonder?We are available for party decorations/rentals. Mystify your party guests with robotic flowers and interactive lighting.

Choose from two sizes of our "Party In A Box", which include self-contained, self-powered (and pre-charged) flowers for easy setup. Just place them where you want, and turn them on! We can deliver and pick up after the event, and help with placement too.

Gift Certificates:Give the gift of ingenuity, or the gift of beauty! Sustainable Magic offers unique gift certificates that can be used for our creativity workshops, as well as event decor rentals, art pieces, and digital fabrication services. Our workshops are tiered to meet various levels of technical expertise.​Gift certificates are available in $75, $125, and $250 increments.

The Sustainable Magic team is very excited to be a part of the upcoming STEAM Carnival -- a high-impact, high-voltage entertainment showcase fun for people of all ages.

What better way to celebrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (aka STEAM) through the experience of a carnival? The Carnival will be filled with high-tech games, interactive installations, dynamic build zones, round the clock stage shows, lab demos, aerialists, artists, food, and more.

...And of course, the Magic Box!

Sustainable Magic will be there with the Magic Box, exhibiting the tools and capabilities of our high-tech traveling workshop and also spreading inspiration with our interactive robotic LED art.

So, please, join us: Come play Friday from 10am-5pm, and Saturday & Sunday from 10am-6pm at Pier 48 at AT&T Park.​Tickets available here and you can learn more about the event here.

We hope to see some familiar faces at the carnival. And if you're interested in helping out and volunteering some of your time please email us. There are perks! (And we can do this without your help!)

See you there!

Check out this snippet of what you can expect to see, do and experience at the STEAM Carnival:

​About Two Bit Circus, creators of the STEAM CarnivalSTEAM Carnival is the creation of Los Angeles-based engineering entertainment company Two Bit Circus. This interdisciplinary team of artists, inventors, engineers, educators, and entrepreneurs is passionate about reimagining all forms of entertainment to inspire kids of all ages. Members of the team have been on-camera inventors for network television, built viral videos for rock bands, and have created massive spectacles for large brands. Clients include Amazon, Intel, the Girls Scouts of America, and Dave & Buster’s.

About Sustainable MagicSustainable Magic is a growing collective of technology-inspired artists, makers, and educators founded by Sean Stevens and Ashley Newton and based in San Francisco. We make interactive art to share and inspire people to want to create, then teach them how using our high-tech traveling maker studio, the Magic Box; we also create immersive interactive art experiences for public and private events. We seek to inspire and empower people to step out of their comfort zone and to learn new skills and approaches to creating, problem solving, and collaborating using high tech tools like 3D printers and laser cutters, Arduino and robotics. We help people have the confidence and capability to change "What if?" into "Let's try!" And, for those with more experience, we help them take it to the next level.

---​Educational programming occurs in partnership with the 5th Annual Bay Area Science Festival. STEAM Carnival focuses on STEAM rather than STEM to emphasize the importance of art, highlighting its contribution to invention and innovation. Let’s inspire more creative thinkers and doers through playful, meaningful, immersive experiences!​

Creativity Day invites families to enjoy various activities that nurture creativity through hands-on learning experiences and play. Participants will get to meet progressive thinkers, educators, and community partners from the Bay Area. This year the theme is "S.T.E.A.M. Powered Creativity" and features innovative programs designed to promote creative thinking in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math.

About the Children's Creativity MuseumThe Children’s Creativity Museum is an interactive art and technology museum for kids. Its mission is to nurture the 3C’s of 21st-century skills – Creativity, Collaboration and Communication – in all youth and families. The museum believe that the ability to think critically, collaborate broadly, communicate effectively and generate and prototype multiple solutions, is the core of a 21st-century education.

The Children's Creativity Museum envisions a world where creativity, collaboration and communication inspire new ideas and innovative solutions. It believes that the success of the next generation will hinge not only on what they know, but also on their ability to think and act creatively as global citizens.

This weekend, Ashley is presenting her Neuroflowers project at the Market Street Prototyping Festival from April 9th – 11th. …And what’s the Market Street Prototyping Festival? It’s a free event to showcase selected local artists who are reinventing public space as a medium for connecting people from all walks of life. With funding from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the San Francisco Planning Department, and the James L. Knight Foundation, the festival’s vision is to unite people from different neighborhoods and backgrounds, and make Market Street a more engaging and vibrant destination. Neuroflowers is one of fifty projects (from several hundred submissions) chosen to take over Market Street. Everything you’ll see is a demonstration of how each artist’s idea is supposed to work. Market Street’s wide sidewalks will be filled with temporary installations ranging from performance spaces to relaxation zones, dynamic art pieces, and more. Neuroflowers puts a colorful, tangible spin on biofeedback. Robotic flowers open and close to indicate your mental state! It’s like a carnival game to test your strength, but instead of swinging a mallet, you put on a Muse EEG headset and try your luck at controlling reality with your mind. It’s a brilliant illustration of the power of thought.

Robotic flowers that you control with your mind: meet “Neuroflowers.” See it at the Market Street Prototyping Festival in San Francisco, April 9 through April 11.

(Can’t see the embedded video? Try this: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=931399933571300&pnref=story) All prototypes will be available for viewing on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 11AM to 7PM. You’ll find Neuroflowers at One Market Street during these dates and times, and also during the Night Time Prototype Viewing from 8PM to 10PM each evening. Neuroflowers is best viewed at night, but the installation will appear under shade by day. Come walk the festival route, check out the installations, and provide your feedback about the event. Your vote will help decide which of these designs get further funding – through the Better Market Street initiative -- to move from the prototype phase to reality.
Hope to see you there!

This Saturday from 11am-3pm in the the YBCA Sculpture Court, the Sustainable Magic team will be participating in the "DiscoTech" Workshops event: "Demystifying Prototyping".

Part of the broader Open City/Art City Festival (running from 11am-8pm and free), the DiscoTech is organized by Code for America’s SF Brigade and Market St. Prototyping Festival

A "DiscoTech", or Discovering Technology, is a community-based, multimedia workshop and fair, where participants have the opportunity to learn more about the possibilities of technology, and take part in fun, interactive and media-based workshop stations. Each station at a DiscoTech focuses on a unique drop-in activity that can be easily shared with anyone, helping to demystify a technology, fabrication technique, or urban prototype. This year, we have stations by Sustainable Magic, the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, Noisebridge, Neighborland, and more, including stations put on by San Francisco residents. This DiscoTech event will provide event participants an opportunity to learn new skills and form creative collaborations, which we hope will inspire future projects showcased at the Market Street Prototyping Festival in April, 2015!

Sustainable Magic will have a 3D printing / prototyping station set up along with arduinos, robotics, sensors, and LEDs to demonstrate how to easily integrate technology into creative projects.

Here is a glimpse at the 10 confirmed DiscoTech stations, and what they'll have to offer:

Market Street History Station and Pseudo-Historical Paper Plaque

Project Description: A station showcasing historical information about Market Street, and how it has evolved over time. This station will also host an activity where participants can create a plaque to represent their own moments of inspiration on Market Street.

Project Description: A soldering station, where participants can create small projects with a soldering iron. Projects range from small light devices to "Legal Graffiti" - lights with magnets that can be fastened to backpacks/clothing and project light imagery in shapes, words and pictures.

Host: Mitch Altman, Founder / Noisebridge

Anti-Eviction Mapping Project

Project Description: The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project is a data-visualization, data analysis, and digital storytelling collective documenting the dispossession of San Francisco Bay Area residents. The project seeks to de-isolate those displaced and act as a tool for collective resistance. The AMP will present two activities at their station: 1) How do do oral history interviews, and 2) A coding activity where participants can add data to the map in real time.

Host: Andrew Ryan Szeto / Anti-Eviction Mapping Project

Mobile Selfie Booth

Project Description: This project is a mobile selfie booth that will have participants take their own selfie with a trigger/shutter. It will move around the space to engage participants at the Discotech. They will be able to write about the event immediately and also tag themselves in the photo. They will also take selfies by holding up a piece of paper that answers the questions "What is Market Street?" These selfies will post to Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook.

Host: Maria Judice / Soko

Sustainable Magic: Making Technology for Making Great Art Easy!

Project Description: An Electronics and 3D printing station. This team just raised $24,000 on Kickstarter to create this Mobile Maker Media Lab! (their goal was only $18,000). Please check out the project, it is amazing and they are amazing humans!

Hosts: Sean Stevens and Ashley Newton

Kinetic Musical Saddle

Project Description: Kinetic Musical Saddle prototype - a saddle that adapts bike peddles to power a fan that blows air into an organ pipe and creates tones. This sculpture is powered entirely by humans and is a precursor / mockup for a larger group of sculptures.

Project Description: 3 Pieces of positive emotion "gym equipment" designed to boost moods and encourage positive emotions. Check out the project! The three pieces that will be showcased are 1) The Throne 2) The Lotus Bench and 3) Heart with Wings

Host: Chacha Sikes

Introduction to Neighborland

Project Description: Neighborland empowers organizations to collaborate with residents on local issues. They provide real-world design tools and a web-based communication platform. Their goal is to improve the way local organizations, municipal leaders, and residents collaborate to make great ideas happen. This station will be an interactive digital and white board demonstration of how Neighborland works and how to use it as a tool for community organizing.

Host: Dan Parham, Co-founder and Designer / Neighborland

Electronic Frontier Foundation / Encryption Technology

Project Description: This station will have informational materials on EFF, and will provide info and assistance on encryption technologies for online protection.

Project Description: This station will be showcasing pictures and a few physical art pieces that have been produced during Gray Area workshops. It will also be an informational station about Gray Area.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) and The Institute for the Future (IFTF) are teaming up to engage the public through a creative and generative weekend that looks at how we transform a city. The weekend consists of IFTF’s Maker Cities’ Conference (Oct. 3) and the Open City/Art City Festival (Oct. 4). Through a vibrant mix of art installations, speakers, participatory activities, performances, music, food, and play, IFTF and YBCA invite the Bay Area community to imagine how we can build a city that is more open, creative and inclusive.

The Open City/Art City Festival seeks to leverage the essential role we all play in civic life and the future of our city. We want to explore the infrastructures, assets, and places needed within cities locally and globally to enable access to artistic exploration, inspiration, participation, collaboration, and opportunity.

The Festival provides a unique occasion to connect with some of the most progressive leaders in the Bay Area who are on the forefront of socially engaged enterprises in the arts, the public sector, urban design, and technology. Join us in uniting our diverse communities together to help frame generative dialogue, identify opportunities for collaboration, community engagement, collaborative design of our public spaces, and inclusive, citizen-centered city models.

As dialogue, connectivity, advocacy, storytelling, and cross-disciplinary innovation are increasingly woven into projects produced by artists and civic technologists, the boundaries between passive and active participant are diminished in lieu of a civic-minded and interdependent community. We hope that by providing a venue for stakeholders and community members to facilitate discussion, we can amplify the broad range of perspectives that comprise our city, and inspire new ways to shape the future. We are truly excited to help foster new, resilient connections in the community and facilitate mutually beneficial relationships across disciplines and industries in the Bay Area. And more to come!

Topics:

• Systems of Support and Strengthened Infrastructures for Vibrant Arts and Culture• Uniting Civic Technology with Arts Civic Practice• Digital Divide, Inclusive Technology Movement• "Re-engineering" the Relationship between Art and Technology in the Bay Area• Maker Cities - The “Maker Mindset” to the Complex urban challenges of health, education, food, and citizenship• Economic Shifts and Gaps - Addressing Equity - Changes in Neighborhoods and its Impacts• Public and Private Partnerships - Leveraging New Resources and Capital

SAN FRANCISCO – 9.15.2014. 3D Printing, Programming, Addressable LEDs, Wearables, Robotics, Internet of Things... yes, the future is here -- but as of now, it's in the hands of the few. The last few years have demonstrated tremendous leaps in technical tools that put unprecedented power into the hands of the masses. Yet, while the Maker Movement is becoming mainstream, maker education is still in its infancy.

We’re here to change that with The Magic Box Kickstarter, ending September 24th (in nine days). The old way of the technology is about keeping secrets. We think that’s shortsighted. And Boring. That’s why we’re bringing the maker movement to your door (or local park or event) so that you can experience the difference for yourself.*We are Sean Stevens and Ashley Newton, and we have crafted a new way to bring making to the next generation - whether it be with youth or adults, schools or companies. We have extensive experience teaching teenagers and adults with little to no technical background how to build nearly anything - from mechatronic flowers, robotic frogs that recognize facial expressions, immersive flight simulators that literally 'send you flying' and much much more ...

We’ve created a curriculum and format that's adaptable to anyone, anywhere. And now they're raising money to build a mobile maker space and media lab -- the Magic Box -- to go “door to door” inspiring and educating people. Here's how it works:Sustainable Magic Cycle of Creativity and Inspiration

Inspire. Inspiration is at the heart of our approach. We’ll act as a mobile art and innovation gallery, holding free, public, outdoor interactive exhibitions to show people what’s possible, and ignite curiosity and passion to learn the secrets of “how”.

Create. We’ll enable experienced and first-timers to create amazing things using the awesome toolset of the Magic Box.

Educate. In our workshops, experienced, passionate creators & educators will guide people to create for the first time, or help advance the abilities of those with experience. We’ll empower people with knowledge and the ability to rapidly problem-solve. The result? More confident, creative, capable people throughout the world.

Inspiration leads to hard work and experience. Work leads to learning. We share our experiences and creations with others, who are then inspired to experience and work. The cycle repeats and grows. Would the iPhone exist without the Hitchhikers's Guide to The Galaxy? Maybe, but the world would be a little less wonderful. It takes inspiration to make things happen. And mentorship to realize you can do the same.Magic is a metaphor for experiences we don't understand. As Arthur C. Clarke put it, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”Our response? "A Mage can conjure Matter, Intelligence, Light, Motion... and even Money. The power to transmute thought into reality…Science Fiction into fact. We can all have that magic." And that’s what we hope to share with the world through the Sustainable Magic Box: the magic of creation through the use of technology.

The Magic Box will be outfitted with a large laser cutter, 3D printers, hand tools, an Arduino lab, modular robotics components, sensors, crafting supplies, alternative energy, sound, video and lighting equipment. We will have the infrastructure to show people how to use technology to create more quickly than they ever imagined. And they're bring it to schools, maker spaces, fab labs, burning man, festivals, and venues near you*.

This is education far beyond STEM/STEAM -- and it’s not just for kids. We are flipping the traditional approach to education on its head, using inspiration to motivate people to want to learn and to work harder than they may have ever worked -- because if you don’t really want to do something, you’re not going to do it as well, as creatively, as quickly, or as effectively as if you really care.

In the real world, you learn to accomplish something. To make something happen. Something you want to make happen. We’re changing education into something that’s natural and fun -- that works.

The proof is in the making. These are some example projects / workshops we’ve helped people create in two weeks at award-winning MIT-associated NuVu Studio:

Our Kickstarter ends in 9 days, and is 65% funded towards our initial goal of $18k, which is enough to get us started with a box truck and big laser cutter. But we have ambitious stretch goals to make the Magic Box a serious "beacon of awesome", quickly. We need all the support we can get to make this dream real. And we have many creative rewards ranging from workshops, parties, art, tech-bling, and time using our tools (laser cutter, 3D printer). Check us out and back us!

About Sean Stevens and Ashley Newton

Sean Stevens loves to combine science, art and design to inspire people to go “Wow!”, to question the world around them. For the past three years, he's been teaching at award winning NuVu Studio in Cambridge, MA, running many two week long immersive workshops showing high school students that they can create world-class projects if they are willing to work for it. He also lead lighting for the Dr. Brainlove art car. Sean has been designing a modular pedal- and solar-powered party system over the years through sister project, Sustainable Sound, including a pedal-powered Burning Man art car 2010-2012. Sean's experience includes everything from creating real-time interactive audio/video environments to Robotics for Art to Biotech Automation to event organization and community building. He has also collaborated with well known artist Raghava KK on numerous projects including a project for TED. In 2007 Sean accidentally shut down the entire city of Boston with LEDs.

Ashley Newton loves rainbows, robots, and LEDS, and teaching others to create! In two years, she has gone from not knowing how to make much beyond really yummy food and detailed but uninspiring market analysis reports, to making refined versions of the interactive robotic flowers, and various wearable art and fiber optic sculptures that commonly elicits the reaction, "OH MY GOD THAT IS SO BEAUTIFUL!” She began teaching workshops at NuVu Studio in Cambridge, MA in early 2013, helping teens invent and then realize awesome project ideas. Her journey through creating has transformed her sense of agency in the world, and led to a series of decisions to improve her life and others. (She quit her job in Market Research a year ago and moved to SF to focus on creating Sustainable Magic.) Ashley’s background is in Cognitive Science (Smith College) and Market Research.She also designed 3D printed fiber optic LED “neuronal nodes” and led the physical assembly and installation process for the Dr. Brainlove art car.